Wayward Ashland University eagle found

ASHLAND — It appears Jake, one of 25 eagle statues on Ashland University’s campus, may have left to visit his old nesting place.

The statue was found Friday morning, a week after it was reported missing, by the side of the road in the 1600 block of Cleveland Avenue, about 2½ miles from home, according to Ashland City Police Chief David Marcelli. He said a caller reported finding the 4-foot-tall cast iron eagle statue in their business’ front yard.

Coincidentally, this may have been Jake’s home before he came to live in front of Jacobs Hall on Ashland University’s campus. According to Jennifer Marquette, director of the Ashland County Historical Society, a Case Farm Equipment Co. office was previously located at 1145 Cleveland Ave. Jake and other statues like him were stolen in the 1940s and 1950s from Case dealerships. At the time, the eagles were a trademark of the J. I. Case Co., an agricultural equipment manufacturer that changed names several times over the years. After years of students stealing the statues, in 1965, Case donated the trademark and rights to its signature eagle statue to Ashland College.

“At one point in time there was a Case dealership at or near the place where they found this eagle dropped off, so maybe somebody was trying to return it to the Case dealership,” Marquette said. “That’s what it sounds like to me.”

The statue is valued at approximately $2,500. University grounds personnel picked up the runaway eagle Friday morning and plan to reinstall the statue within a week.